Saturday, October 3, 2009

(Photo from InsideHoops)It's been about two months since the NBA announced it would let teams sell ad space on practice (not game) jerseys. We've already read the reasons and the possible travesties that may come if these ads transfer to in game jerseys in a previous post. And some teams have already taken advantage of the practice jersey ad space.

About a month after the league allowance, the New Jersey Nets were the first team to sell ad space on their practice jerseys. Last year, they had an operating income of negative .9 million dollars (Forbes).

A couple weeks after the Nets, the Phoenix Suns were next in selling ad space to The Annexus Group "that will pay a mid-six-figure amount annually" (AZCentral). That same article said that the Nets sold their jerseys for a "low six-figure amount from PNY Technologies." Last year, the Suns had an operating income of 28.9 million dollars, a lot better than the Nets did and good for 6th place last year in operating income (Forbes).

So far, it looks like these are the only two teams to have taken advantage of the increased revenue. As talked about in the previous post, the NBA fan just hopes that these ads STAY on the practice jerseys and not cheapen the traditionality of the in game jerseys. But if it needs to be done in order for there to even be a game to watch, then it will.